Sailor Moon - Dark War
by AndyCombs
Summary: Written over a decade ago... The sixth season of the original Sailor Moon TV show. And set fully in the Sailor Moon Expanded fanfiction universe. So there are appearances by other SME characters.
1. Chapter 1: Fleeting Peace

Usagi sighed. Things rarely got any better than this.

It was the longest period of peace they had had since that fateful day when Luna had found her. Six months had passed since the final battle with Galaxia. A whole six months with no youmas. No Cardians. No droids, diamons, lemures, or warped senshi popping out of the woodwork.

Six months in which she had been able to almost forget that she was Sailor Moon. Heck, even the tabloids were starting to run "Whatever happened to..." stories about the Senshi, it had been so long since they had appeared regularly.

The only thing that would have made the last six months better would have been if she hadn't had to spend it alone. Mamoru had been rescued. He had never made it to America last year, instead having been captured by Galaxia. But once back, he had insisted that he still had to go. He needed training that he could only get there. And so he had left once more after only a week with her.

On the bright side, this separation was nothing like the previous. That time, she had written him regularly, but never gotten a response. She had had no way of knowing that he was Galaxia's prisoner the whole time. This time, however, his return letters had been frequent. And elegant. Mamoru tended to write poetically about how he missed her. Also, he called her at least once a week. They could never talk long, overseas calls were expensive, and he was on a tight budget, but it was enough. He was still there. He still loved her, and hadn't forgotten her, like she had feared last time.

And best of all, he was coming back tomorrow for a full month of vacation.

Usagi could hardly wait. She could almost feel him by her side already. His scent, wafting through her nose. The light touch of his lips on hers. The sensations as his hands gently caressed her...

Usagi blinked. Where did that thought come from? Great. Next thing she knew, she would be dreaming him into her bed. That thought made her blush furiously. She knew that she would sleep with him someday. Chibi Usa was their daughter. There were certain things that had to happen for Chibi Usa to be created. She blushed even more. The thought of sleeping with him... the whole idea was at once enchanting, and terrifying.

She sighed deeply. That was still a year or two off, though. She was seventeen now. She raised her hand to look at the ring sitting on one finger. An engagement ring. Before Mamoru left for America (the first time) he had given her the ring and asked her to marry him when she graduated from high school. Of course she had accepted. And before he left the second time he had repeated his promise to marry her.

Usagi knew that if she wanted, she could probably take him to bed before they married. He would never ask himself. He was too much the gentleman. But she doubted he would say no if she was the one to ask. But she also knew she would never ask. That would cheapen their eventual marriage. So for now she would make herself be content with kissing him. And her fantasies of what it would someday be like when they were married.

She sighed and looked out over the park. The sun was starting to dip low in the western sky. It was getting late. She probably should think about getting home.

"Excuse me" piped a high voice from behind her. "But are you Tsukino Usagi?"

She turned her head to look over her shoulder. There, just behind the park bench, stood a figure. It was a man. Perfectly proportioned, but only a foot and a half tall. He was dressed in a green suit, with a green tophat of the same style Mamoru wore as Tuxedo Mask. Curly yellow hair peeked out from under the hat, and he had a full beard of the same color.

Usagi wasn't normally very knowledgeable about Western mythological figures, but after the pegasus had appeared, Ami had given the rest of them a crash course in such things. And so she could identify the figure standing there as a leprechaun.

Usagi finally nodded in response to his question.

"Splendid! Just the person I was looking for. You see, I have very important information I must impart to you. You, and your friends."

"My... friends?"

The leprechaun grinned, and reached within his coat, pulling out a small sphere. He lightly spun the sphere on one index finger. The sphere blurred, then a quick series of images appeared. In rapid succession the symbols for the Inner Senshi appeared. First the Moon, then the symbols for Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter all appeared. Then the leprechaun grabbed the sphere from the air and quickly replaced it in his pocket.

"What? How?" Usagi sputtered.

"All will be answered, in time. For now, though, would you please gather your friends in your normal location? I will come by as soon as I am able."

He turned to leave, but stopped. "Oh, and one other thing. Please have your cats be elsewhere. If they are anywhere nearby, I'm afraid I will not be able to visit you." He turned once more and took a couple of steps away.

"Mr. Leprechaun?" He stopped. "Who...? What should I call you?"

"Me?" He spun on his heels to face Usagi, a wide grin on his face. "I have many names. But for now, you can call me Macavity." He bowed deeply to her, and then was gone. One moment he was there, the next he had vanished. She looked around but there was no trace of him.

She sighed. "So much for the peaceful times."

* * *

**Dark War Opening Theme**  
[Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening music.]

**_Gomen ne sunao ja nakute_**  
(Shot of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, back to back, in defensive poses.)  
**Y****_ume no naka nara ieru_****  
**(Shot of Sailor Mercury and Starhunter in similar poses.)  
**_Shikou kairo wa shotto sunzen_**  
(Shot of Mars and Venus is similar poses.)  
**_Ima sugu aitai yo_**  
(Shot of Jupiter and Laura in similar poses. Macavity tumbles past Makoto and Laura, who both sweatdrop.)  
**_Nakitaku naru you na Moonlight  
Denwa mo dekinai Midnight_**  
(Shot of Luna and Artemis, both sitting on their haunches, slowly orbiting each other.)  
**_Datte junjou dou shiyou  
Hatto wa mangekyou_**  
(Macavity suddenly appears between them, douses both from a seltzer bottle, then vanishes, leaving two wet and obviously pissed off kitties.)  
**_Tsuki no Hikari ni michibikare_**  
(Shot of The Chairman. He is standing against a dark background, and has his hand stretched out towards the camera, a lot like Jadeite did with his energy ball in the first few TV episodes. Instead of an energy ball, The Chairman is holding a globe, which he then closes his hand around, crushing the globe. Throughout, his face is emotionless.)  
**_Nandomo meguri-au_**  
(Shot of Argent sitting on a tree branch, waving his index finger at the camera in a "No, no, no." motion.)  
(Brief instrumental (organ?) riff)  
(Shot of Laura at her equipment, franticly punching buttons and turning dials)  
(Macavity appears behind her, sneaking up on her. She casually grabs a pillow from somewhere and tosses it behind her, tagging Macavity before he can get close to her.)  
**_Seiza no mataki kazoe_**  
(Close-up of Eternal Sailor Moon, a sad look on her face)  
**_Uranau koi no yukue_**  
(The view pulls back. Eternal Sailor Moon is sitting, looking out at a view we cannot see. She's not alone. Tuxedo Mask is right behind her, hands on her shoulder, comforting her.)  
**_Onaji kuni ni umareta no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Continue to pull out. The rest of the cast is now seen. Macavity is at Sailor Moon's feet, while the Inner Senshi and Laura are in a small semi circle behind her.)  
**_Shinjite iro no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Finally show that the whole gang is looking out over a pristine, untouched landscape. A couple of fairies (butterfly girls) fly by as the opening fades out...)

Sailor Moon Dark War_**  
**_**Episode One. Fleeting Peace.**

_**by Andy Combs**_

* * *

Warning: As usual with my fic, there are adult themes. This is not a lemon, however. There's no actual nudity, no actual sex scenes, but still... If adult themes offend you, please don't read...  
Also note that despite the title, this is not darkfic. It is intended to be fairly standard Sailor Moon fare, set firmly in the Sailor Moon Expanded fanfiction universe. There will be frivolous humor mixed with serious super-heroing. At times there will be sappy romance, at others things will get deadly serious. In short, pretty much the same mix you get from the original Japanese SM TV show.

* * *

The room was dark. Two of the walls were actually full length windows. The glittering lights of Tokyo's nighttime skyline could be seen through them. The room was quite large. The large shadowy shape of a desk could be seen where the two windowed walls met.

Silhouetted against one of the windows could be seen a figure, staring out across the city.

There was a soft rush as air was shoved aside as a new figure arrived by teleportation. The arrival quickly knelt toward the original figure, and bowed its head.

"I come as I have been called. How may I serve you?"

In a melodic, baritone voice, the figure before the window spoke.

"The reports show that everything is ready. This is correct?"

"Yes, Chairman."

The Chairman nodded. "Good. Very well. We've waited far too long as it is. Initiate Phase 1 at once. You are in charge for now. On you will hang the glory of success or the dishonor of failure."

"As you command." He rose to his feet and, after bowing once more to the Chairman, teleported away.

The Chairman returned his attention to the Tokyo skyline. "After all this time, it has finally begun."

* * *

They were all gathered in the courtyard of Rei's shrine. This was not quite the homecoming Mamoru had been expecting. Usagi had met him at the airport as expected, but instead of being excited at seeing him, she was instead preoccupied with worry over the encounter the previous day.

Usagi had set up a meeting at the shrine for shortly after his arrival time, and they had taken a cab straight here from the airport. In fact his bags still sat at the side of the courtyard. He hadn't brought all that much back as he was only supposed to be here for a month. If they had a new threat arising, on the other hand, he might have to rethink that.

While on the way here Usagi had given him a brief rundown on what had happened the previous day. There wasn't that much to tell. If he hadn't fought demons of various types for the last several years, and even fought alongside a pegasus for a period of time, he might have been inclined to dismiss what she said. But whatever other faults she had, Usagi was no liar. If she said she saw a leprechaun, she saw a leprechaun.

Mamoru listened with half an ear as Usagi told the other four about the encounter yesterday. Something seemed amiss. Then he realized that it was the absence of the Cats. As Macavity had requested, Usagi had insisted that they stay at home. Luna had apparently put up a fuss, but Usagi hadn't given in. But it was still unusual to see the five girls chatting spiritedly with the Cats nowhere around.

"Macavity..." Ami was musing, as if trying to pull something out of her memory. She frowned. "I know I've heard that name before."

Makoto gave her a strange look, then rolled her eyes, before turning to the other girls. "So when's he supposed to show up?"

Usagi shook her head. "He didn't say. He just asked us to meet in our usual place. I'm pretty sure that meant here."

Rei said "You sure he didn't mean the arcade? You sure spend enough time there..."

"Rei-chan, you are so mean!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei and yet another tongue war was on.

Mamoru just shook his head in resignation. Some things never changed.

A voice spoke from almost at Mamoru's ear. "And these are the ones who have saved the world so many times. Almost unbelievable." Mamoru turned and looked at the figure on his shoulder. He was just as Usagi had described him.

"Macavity, I presume."

Macavity dipped his head lightly. "That name serves as well as any."

By now the girls had noticed the newcomer. All but Usagi were staring wide-eyed at him.

Macavity hopped to the ground from Mamoru's shoulder. Mamoru frowned momentarily. He hadn't even felt Macavity standing there. Probably some sort of strange explanation like the leprechaun being more magical than physical, or some such. The Pegasus had turned out to not have any physical form, after all.

Macavity turned to each of the girls in turn, bowing as he addressed each.

"Lady Mercury. Mistress of the Mind."

"Lady Venus. Goddess of the Heart."

"Lady Mars. Guardian of the Soul."

"Lady Jupiter. The Righteous Strength."

"Lady Moon. The Peacemaker."

and he finished with Mamoru himself...

"And finally an unexpected surprise. Lord Earth. The Emerald thread that binds them all."

He took a few steps backward so that he could see them all at once. "And then there's me. I have so many titles I couldn't begin to list them. Most would be meaningless to you anyway. But as I said, for now feel free to call me Macavity. That will suffice." He bowed deeply.

Usagi had a faraway look. "Those titles you called us..."

Macavity grinned, and continued on. "Needless to say, I'm well aware of who you people are, so please don't waste my time denying it. You are the ones called the Sailor Senshi. You have saved this world a number of times already. I'm afraid the time has come to ask you to do so once more."

"I knew it." Usagi said.

Macavity inclined his head towards her. "I'm sorry. I can see how much you are enjoying this time of peace, but there's not really any choice. The Dark Ones have come. They walk among you already. And you are the only ones with the strength to stand in opposition to them."

"The Dark Ones?" asked Ami.

Macavity nodded. "Like me, they have many names. Most would be meaningless in this age. 'Dark Ones' fits them as well as any other label might."

Makoto struck a fist into the opposing palm a couple of times. "So another enemy lines up to be knocked down by the Senshi."

Macavity shook his head. "Beware overconfidence. The Dark Ones are unlike any of the other enemies you have overcome. For one thing the Dark Ones are old. **Very** old. And they have the cunning and experience that comes with such age.

"But perhaps more importantly, they hate. They hate humanity. Your previous enemies may have placed little value on human life, but the Dark Ones will actively seek to end such life. In the end it will be them or you. There can be no compromise with them."

Usagi shuddered.

Rei gave Macavity a hard look. "And how do you fit into all this?"

"Mua? Would you believe I'm also a staunch defender of truth, justice, and the senshi way?"

"No" Rei said.

"You would be right. I'm not. I'm not really free to say what my place in the coming tapestry of events is. For now, let's just say that I have no more wish for the Dark Ones to succeed than you do. Beyond that..."

A beeping sound was heard. Macavity frowned and reached into his suit, pulling out a large pocket watch, from which the beeping appeared to be coming. A quick tap on the single button on top of the watch caused the beeping to cease. Macavity then swung open the faceplate of the watch, and examined the insides. He nodded a couple of times at what he saw before snapping the watch shut. None of the others had been able to see inside the watch. The watch quickly vanished back within Macavity's clothes.

"The Dark Ones are on the move. To a limited extent I am able to track the gates by which they enter and leave this world. Until now they have only been opening small gates. They have just opened a big one."

"Where?" asked Mamoru?

"In a park a couple of miles from here." He gave the name of the park.

The girls nodded. "Let's go!" said Minako.

"Venus Star Power..."

"Mercury Star Power..."

"Mars Star Power..."

"Jupiter Star Power..."

"Moon Eternal Power..."

**_"MAKE UP!"_**

* * *

The man watched as the chaos unfolded below him. In the middle of the park below him, a jagged hole seemed to hang in the air. Through this hole flowed a steady stream of misshapen beings. They were humanoid, but there the resemblance ended. These beings were all knobby joints and strangely angled limbs. All carried weapons, but they were as mismatched as the beings themselves. Knobby clubs and a few short spears.

The man sighed. Of all the beings he had to work with, it had to be goblins. He had always hated the filthy creatures. But he couldn't deny they were perfect for the current mission. Perfect, because they were totally expendable. Goblins bred at an insane rate, and generally kept their populations down by fighting among themselves. Bringing a few of them to this world to die would be no loss.

The goblins that poured from the hole in the middle of the air quickly spread out, seeking things to destroy. That was what they did best, after all. Most of the humans in the park had managed to flee when the invasion began. A few hadn't been so lucky, and had been clubbed into submission. He could see several lying about. From this distance he couldn't see if they were still alive, but he suspected they mostly were. Goblins liked to kill slowly and painfully. For now, they were just securing victims. The killing would come later.

Now it was just a matter of waiting until the defenders of this world showed up. He didn't have to wait long.

"Hey, Fang-face! Why don't you pick on someone who can fight back!" came a new voice.

The goblins all turned toward the voice. The man shook his head at the goblins' stupidity if that was all it took for them to be distracted.

"Disturbing a quiet day at the park is unforgivable! I'm the warrior of love and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

Six figures stood at the entrance to the park. The man nodded. Those would be the so-called Inner Senshi and Tuxedo Mask. Since they had arrived they had examined all reports of this world's defenders. This was the most visible team. A smaller team of Sailor Senshi called the Outer Senshi was also reported to exist, as well as several independent heroes.

The goblins roared in defiance and as a group turned to attack the Senshi. The Senshi waded into the goblins and the fight was on. The man rolled his eyes as it quickly became apparent how one-sided the fight was. The Senshi were not even using their magical attacks. They were going after the goblins hand to hand, and destroying them easily. He sighed. What good was this mission if he couldn't even force the Senshi to use their attacks?

And then he spotted something that changed the situation totally. There was a seventh person fighting the goblins. This figure wasn't actually attacking them, but was no less effective. He would appear right in front of one goblin, taunting the goblin to attack. The goblin would do so without hesitation, at which point the figure would vanish, and the goblin would crash into one of his fellow, generally with disastrous consequences. This happened a number of times in rapid succession, proving that the figure was carefully calculating his appearances to cause such chaos.

But it wasn't the way that the figure was attacking that was the problem, but the figure's identity. What in the hells was one of the Wee Folk doing here? That one of the Wee Folk was on this world, actively helping the Senshi, changed the situation dramatically. The man smiled evilly. This mission wasn't a wash after all. The whole situation had just gotten a whole lot more interesting.

Enough for now. The goblins were not going to be giving him any more information on the Senshi. His eyes glowed momentarily, and the hole in the air suddenly winked out of existence stopping the flow of reinforcements. They had been worthless anyway. The Senshi were destroying the goblins faster than they could come through. The man spared no sympathy for the ones he was stranding in this world. They were only goblins, after all. Not worth his concern.

His mind was already on the wording of the report he would give to the Chairman. This was certainly an unexpected turn of events.

* * *

The Senshi finished off the rest of the creatures. Even given the sheer numbers of the enemy, it had been one of the easiest fights they had had in a long time. Even Sailor Moon had waded in physically once she saw how easily the others were dealing with the creatures. The key difference had been speed. The Senshi were so agile in comparison to the creatures that none of them had even come close to hitting the Senshi. And the Senshi were strong enough that a single punch or kick from a Senshi was generally enough to take one of the creatures out of the fight.

Fortunately it appeared no one had been killed, though there were many bruises and a few broken limbs among those caught by the creatures.

As was typical for enemies, these creatures disintegrated into piles of dust once defeated.

The Senshi regrouped a little ways off after the last of the creatures was gone.

Sailor Moon was bubbly. "Well, that was certainly easy. If they are all like that, we have nothing to fear from these Dark Ones."

Macavity appeared, sitting on a nearby tree limb. "I have warned you against overconfidence. Those were the least of the Dark Ones you just fought. Frankly I'm surprised they even bothered sending them. Surely they would have realized how useless they would be."

Sailor Moon stuck out her tongue at Macavity. "Spoil sport. We know they won't all be so easy, but let us enjoy our victory anyway."

Macavity grinned. "I like your spirit, girl. Very well." He stood up on the branch. "Until next time, farewell." He vanished.

Mamoru just watched the space where he had been. "I'd love to know how he does that."

* * *

Two figures chatted in a darkened room. One, obviously a humanoid, had a female voice. She was seated on a chair before a table. The other, who's shape was hidden, could be recognized as Macavity by his voice. The voice came from a deep shadow on the table.

The female spoke. "I'm sorry, Master, but I just don't like it. The Senshi are our allies. I just can't agree with deceiving them like this."

"I know, but it's necessary. For more reasons than I can begin to describe, this is how it must be. We are playing a dangerous game here. You know as well as I do what is at stake."

"Yes, but Master P..."

Macavity interrupted. "No! Don't say that name. For now, and the foreseeable future I am Macavity." He stepped forward out of the shadow, the familiar leprechaun. "I am Macavity. And Serenity help us all if they find out otherwise."

* * *

The man knelt again in the high office as the Chairman read his report.

The Chairman was pacing as he read. **Not** a good sign.

Finally the Chairman spoke. His voice held his normal calm, despite the seriousness of his word. "This is most disturbing news. If one of the Wee Folk is helping these 'Sailor Senshi' then we must move cautiously indeed. Who knows what other assistance they could call upon?"

The man nodded. "That is, indeed, the problem, sir."

The Chairman appeared to reach a decision. "Very well. I'm placing Phase II on hold for now. We have been patient until now, we can be patient a bit longer. We cannot afford mistakes. You are to continue Phase I. We need to know everything about the local defenders before we begin any real moves."

"Sir. About the quality of the forces available to me?"

"Yes. I can see from your report how the goblins fared. But I still do not consider them totally useless for the coming projects. While the Senshi outclass them, they cannot afford to ignore them, either. And while they deal with the goblins, someone else can deal with them. And the goblins are the most expendable troop we have. We have more than enough to expend."

The man nodded. "What you say makes sense, sir."

"I will, however, authorize some of the better troops for you. But realize that anything made available to you at this stage will, by necessity, be expendable. Until we have reliable estimates of the capabilities of the enemies, and of any help on which they could call, placing essential units in opposition to them would be foolishness."

He paused, looking out over the city. "One last thing. No matter how 'expendable' the troops you are given to work with, you yourself are anything but expendable. Remember that your mission is to gather information. If you can eliminate one or more of the defenders, that is fine, but don't risk yourself to achieve that. We have evidence that these defenders have eliminated several powerful opponents. They are not to be underestimated."

"Yes, sir."

"You may go. Luck be with you."

"And with you, sir." The man rose, then vanished.

"The Wee Folk, is it?" the Chairman mused to himself.

End Sailor Moon Dark War 1


	2. Chapter 2: Friend or Foe?

Makoto watched quietly as the teacher prepared to introduce the new student. She wondered idly if this newcomer would add credence to her own pet theory.

Ami had already dismissed the theory. She insisted that the laws of averages made Makoto's theory simply impossible. But Makoto still clung to the theory, though she didn't bother her fellow Senshi with it.

"Good Morning, class." said the teacher. "Today we have a new student, just transferred from Canada. I want you to all welcome Laura Bergstrom to our class." The class greeted her in unison.

Laura Bergstrom. Makoto sighed. Which would it be this time? Friend or foe? Ally or enemy?

As far as Makoto could tell, whenever a new enemy and a new classmate appeared at about the same time, there was always a connection. Sometimes, like Ail and Ann, the classmate was the enemy. Other times, like the Starlights, the classmate turned out to be an ally. Even Sailor Polaris had been a classmate of Minako.

Starhunter, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn hadn't been classmates, but all had come into the Senshi's lives outside of costume at about the same time they had met in costume.

So Makoto kept a close eye on Laura. So far, the only new ally was Macavity. Makoto had seen a lot, including alien Senshi who changed sex when they transformed. But the idea of Laura turning into Macavity just stretched credibility. So that left her as one of the bad guys, assuming Makoto's theory held.

Makoto watched as Laura was seated right beside Usagi. Predictably enough, Usagi very quickly started up a conversation with her. That was Usagi's strongest point. Building and maintaining friendships. Makoto hoped Usagi wasn't making a big mistake this time. For now she would keep her suspicions to herself. She had nothing beyond the timing of Laura's arrival to base them on. And the last thing Makoto wanted was another lecture from Ami on the impossibility of Makoto's theory. What grated on Makoto about Ami's position on her theory was that Ami had what Makoto considered a very similar theory about Tokyo itself, and about why enemies always seemed to attack Tokyo first, right where the Senshi lived to oppose them. How could Ami believe in her so called Synchronous Zone around Tokyo, and at the same time so easily dismiss Makoto's theory about allies and enemies at school?

Makoto sighed. Watch yourself, Laura Bergstrom. I'm keeping a close eye on you, girl.

* * *

**Dark War Opening Theme**  
[Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening music.]

**_Gomen ne sunao ja nakute_**  
(Shot of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, back to back, in defensive poses.)  
**Y****_ume no naka nara ieru_****  
**(Shot of Sailor Mercury and Starhunter in similar poses.)  
**_Shikou kairo wa shotto sunzen_**  
(Shot of Mars and Venus is similar poses.)  
**_Ima sugu aitai yo_**  
(Shot of Jupiter and Laura in similar poses. Macavity tumbles past Makoto and Laura, who both sweatdrop.)  
**_Nakitaku naru you na Moonlight  
Denwa mo dekinai Midnight_**  
(Shot of Luna and Artemis, both sitting on their haunches, slowly orbiting each other.)  
**_Datte junjou dou shiyou  
Hatto wa mangekyou_**  
(Macavity suddenly appears between them, douses both from a seltzer bottle, then vanishes, leaving two wet and obviously pissed off kitties.)  
**_Tsuki no Hikari ni michibikare_**  
(Shot of The Chairman. He is standing against a dark background, and has his hand stretched out towards the camera, a lot like Jadeite did with his energy ball in the first few TV episodes. Instead of an energy ball, The Chairman is holding a globe, which he then closes his hand around, crushing the globe. Throughout, his face is emotionless.)  
**_Nandomo meguri-au_**  
(Shot of Argent sitting on a tree branch, waving his index finger at the camera in a "No, no, no." motion.)  
(Brief instrumental (organ?) riff)  
(Shot of Laura at her equipment, franticly punching buttons and turning dials)  
(Macavity appears behind her, sneaking up on her. She casually grabs a pillow from somewhere and tosses it behind her, tagging Macavity before he can get close to her.)  
**_Seiza no mataki kazoe_**  
(Close-up of Eternal Sailor Moon, a sad look on her face)  
**_Uranau koi no yukue_**  
(The view pulls back. Eternal Sailor Moon is sitting, looking out at a view we cannot see. She's not alone. Tuxedo Mask is right behind her, hands on her shoulder, comforting her.)  
**_Onaji kuni ni umareta no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Continue to pull out. The rest of the cast is now seen. Macavity is at Sailor Moon's feet, while the Inner Senshi and Laura are in a small semi circle behind her.)  
**_Shinjite iro no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Finally show that the whole gang is looking out over a pristine, untouched landscape. A couple of fairies (butterfly girls) fly by as the opening fades out...)

Sailor Moon Dark War_**  
**_**Episode Two: Friend or Foe?**

_**by Andy Combs**_

* * *

Author Notes:  
**Visual reference for Laura:** Short, about Usagi's height. Mid-length light brown hair worn loose. Large glasses normally worn, though she has contacts available. She prefers the glasses. Closest visual reference: Fu from Magic Knight Rayearth.  
**Tom**, aka Starhunter, may be seen in the SME story Hunter's Moon. **Titanite**, aka Sailor Polaris, may been seen in various Dark Kingdom Renegades stories.

* * *

Usagi munched happily on her lunch. Things didn't get much better than this. Their new enemy was the easiest yet. She had managed to avoid detention for the last week, and she had a new friend to share her joy with.

Laura was nice. She was supposed to be almost as smart as Ami, the teacher had proudly announced. Laura had been totally embarrassed by the announcement, another plus in her favor.

Usagi had begun probing her interests almost as soon as lunch had started. Laura knew very little of anime and manga, but had an encouraging passion for American comics. And even better, she had a passion for video games that appeared to be second only to Minako.

Usagi had commented on how well Laura spoke Japanese for a foreigner. Laura had looked a little startled at the question, but had quickly answered that she had learned it on her own in order to play the imported Japanese video games rather than waiting for the North American translated releases.

Usagi had noticed a strange look cross Makoto's face at that comment. Usagi mentally shrugged. If Mako-chan had something on her mind, she would share it...

Makoto said "That's interesting. Then why did you come over here?"

Usagi "ahhh"ed, and looked to Laura for her answer.

Laura smiled, and responded. "I'm on an exchange program. When they came by my school looking for applicants, I decided I should get a bit wider look at the world, and signed up. Before I knew it, I had been accepted, and here I am." Makoto still had the strange look on her face, but Usagi decided to ignore it for now.

"So, you wanna learn about Japanese culture, but don't know much about anime or manga?" Usagi mused. "Something must be done about this." she stated, matter-of-factly.

Laura looked puzzled.

Usagi continued. "I think it's time for a marathon anime session. How about tonight?"

"Usagi!" said Ami. "We have a study session tonight. You're barely passing as it is. You can't afford to miss a study session."

"Slave driver!" Usagi said, her voice showing she wasn't really serious.

"Usagi, if it wasn't for my 'slave driving', as you call it, you wouldn't be passing at all."

"I know, Ami-chan. I'm just joking. I really do appreciate all the help you give me." Ami looked placated.

Usagi turned back to Laura. "How about sometime this weekend, then?"

"I would be honored, Tsukino-san." Laura responded.

Usagi giggled. "You don't have to be **that** formal. Just call me Usagi-chan, like the rest of my friends."

"Gladly, Tsuki... Usagi-chan." Usagi grinned.

* * *

Makoto frowned to herself. Laura's explanation for being here was perfectly plausible. Heck, Tom had been here as an exchange student. But then again Ail and Ann had used exactly the same story, so it really showed nothing.

Laura's explanation of her Japanese skills, on the other hand, stank. Learning Japanese to play video games? Maybe, but Laura spoke it **way** too well for that. She spoke perfect Japanese, without a trace of an accent. And Makoto was almost willing to bet she could read and write it just as well. She shook her head, quietly watching Laura across the classroom. No, you almost had to be a native to speak it that well. Or have some magical help...

On the other hand, it proved nothing. It was quite possible Makoto was overanalyzing things, seeing clues where none existed. For now, she would just have to keep a close eye on their new friend.

* * *

Laura is seen working at something. Slowly we can see that it's a large machine of some sort. It has a lot of strange dials and switches. Right in the center of the arcane looking contraption is a small modern computer, complete with monitor and keyboard. The computer is obviously linked in with the rest of the contraption.

Laura carefully adjusted one of the dials, her eyes glued to the monitor.

A shadow is seen separating from the others behind her. The shadow slowly moves towards her, getting closer...

closer...

closer...

"Good evening, Master." Laura said without taking her eyes from the monitor.

The shadow coalesced into the shape of Macavity. "One of these days you are going to have to tell me how you do that." he muttered under his breath.

"Do what, Master?" She finished adjusting the dial and turned to face the leprechaun.

Macavity rolled his eyes. "Never mind. How was your day? Did you meet them?"

Laura nodded. "Three of the five are in the same class as me. Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, and Kino Makoto. Aino Minako is in a different class at the same school. I met her at lunch. Hino Rei goes to a different school, so I didn't meet her, though I expect I will get to meet her on Saturday. Usagi has invited me over to watch 'anime', and I got the impression that the whole group will be there."

Macavity nodded. "Any individual impressions of them?"

"From one day of school? Not many. Usagi is certainly outgoing. From comments by Ami, though, she has a tough time at school. Ami is apparently the top pupil at the school, and is expected to easily be valedictorian when they graduate next year. It's hard to tell from just a single day's impressions, but I think she is **very** smart. Maybe even smarter than me. It would be interesting to find out."

"Don't" said Macavity. Laura gave him a questioning look. "She's Senshi Mercury, Laura. Don't become her intellectual rival. You'll lose."

Laura looked dubious, but didn't argue. She continued. "I couldn't get a handle at all on Kino Makoto. She seemed quite distant. And Aino Minako I only saw briefly at lunch, so I can't say much about her either."

She continued. "One nice breakthrough, though. In the middle of lunch Minako got a call on her watch. She tried to pass it off as an alarm, but since you had already figured out that they use those watches to communicate... Anyway, I had set up my scanner before lunch started, so I got a full scan of her conversation. While the conversation itself wasn't important, it was just Artemis reminding her of something, I did get the frequency they use to communicate. With a few adjustments, you'll be able to talk to them as easily as you talk to me." Macavity nodded in agreement.

Macavity turned his attention to the machine. "How's that thing holding up?"

"Pretty well. It's doing its job, at least." Macavity nodded.

Macavity lightly hopped up onto a worktable beside her. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this. If I had even the slightest ability with this stuff..." he inclined his head towards the machine "...I would have never brought you along."

"I'm fine, Master. Really. I may have been playing inventor recently, but I much prefer to be a scientist. And here and now is the best chance yet to test out my theories."

Macavity shook his head. "This isn't a game, Laura. The enemy is deadly serious in their intentions... what's so funny." Laura was giggling.

"I'm sorry, Master, but you're the last one to lecture like that. 'This isn't a game' indeed. Spoken by the gamemaster himself."

Macavity sighed, then looked skyward. "What have I done to deserve such disrespect?"

"Want me to start a list, Master?" Macavity gave her a startled look, then they both broke out in giggles.

Finally Macavity spoke again. "Just be careful, please?"

Laura nodded. "I promise."

Macavity nodded, and headed out across the apartment. Laura returned to her machine and tapped a couple of keys on the keypad before moving to another one of the dials. She started to adjust this one but was interrupted by a soft chime from the central computer. In a couple of moments she was seated at the computer, busily typing on the keyboard. Macavity appeared, seated on her shoulder.

"We have another gate. About the same size as last time. Probably controlled by the same person." Laura said.

"Where?"

Laura rose and crossed the room, picking up a small triangular red flag as she went. On one side of the apartment was a large map of Tokyo, taking up a wall. She quickly pushed the flag in at one point. "Here. Down in the subways, if the readings are correct."

"Very well. Sounds like a good time to test out the Senshi's communication frequency. You head downstairs while I contact them. I'll meet you there in a few moments." Laura nodded and grabbed her purse as she headed out the door.

* * *

Argent leaned casually against the wall. He wasn't trying to be inconspicuous, this just happened to be a good place to observe from.

The goblins were actually using some tactics this time. It helped that all of them were from one tribe, and that he had brought their chieftain through first. The goblin chief was highly intelligent. For a goblin, that is. Argent still ranked him even below the humans on an overall scale. But he was effective in controlling the rest of the goblins, and had them busy securing the subway station where they found themselves.

There had been only a few humans around when the gate first opened, and those had all fled before the goblins could catch them.

The goblin chief had been informed of what had happened to the last group to fight the local defenders, and he was determined to not have his tribe wiped out the same way. Argent knew better. Even organized the goblins were no match for the Sailor Senshi.

On the other hand, he had brought a little something else with him to liven things up. Several dark black shapes lay curled up at random spots around the station. The goblins gave these shapes wide berth.

The goblins busied themselves erecting barricades across the stairways that led up to the surface. Properly manned, these might even give the Senshi something to worry over as they advanced down the stairs.

A low rumbling filled the station, and then a light could be seen coming down one of the tunnels. One of the human's transport devices. Several goblins quickly grabbed up their weapons and hopped down into the device's trail to await it. The chieftain bellowed at the rest, preventing them from joining the first few. Which proved to have been for the best, because the giant device was totally unfazed by the goblins that it casually splattered as it pulled into the station.

Argent rolled his eyes once more.

The human in the front of the device saw the goblins on his viewshield, and a large number more advancing angrily, weapons held menacingly. He did what Argent agreed was probably the wisest thing he could have done, and accelerated the mammoth device away. A couple of goblins tried to jump on the now rapidly moving device, with predictably messy results.

"Hey, fangface! Disrupting the subway system that allows people to move about their lives is unforgivable!"

The Sailor Senshi had arrived. Argent quickly noted that the distraction of the human vehicle had drawn all the goblins away from their fortifications. The Sailor Senshi were already down the stairs, on the station itself. It was just the five Senshi this time. Tuxedo Mask was nowhere to be seen.

"I am the warrior of love and justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

The goblins roared at this new threat, and charged. Argent let them get to the Senshi and engage them before he sent a mental command to the black forms around the station.

"Go."

He watched as the forms uncurled from where they lay and rose to their feet. Huge black dogs, they quietly watched the melee swirling around the Senshi, watching for the best moment to strike.

It was only because of The Chairman's orders to provide Argent with better forces that the Lord of the Hunt had been persuaded to spare him these few beasts. And even then the Lord had only surrendered the least of his Hounds. A half dozen in all. The old, the injured. Animals that would never run with the Hunt again. But they would be given one last chance at glory. Argent personally didn't think they had much of a chance. If the Senshi were half as good as they were supposed to be, they would beat the Hounds without too much trouble. But he wasn't worried. It wasn't his mission to defeat the Senshi, just to engage them and find out all he could about them. And at a minimum these Hounds should force the Senshi to work a bit harder for their victory. For even the least of the Hounds was far faster than the goblins, and far more intelligent as well.

The fight around the Senshi was thinning, as the goblins began to run out. Argent hadn't left the gate open this time. Simply gateing in more goblins was a waste of his energy reserves.

He could now see the Wee One again, using the same tactics to cause the goblins to take themselves out of the fight. Well, that establishes one thing. The presence of the Wee One the last time had been no fluke. He was actively helping the Senshi. Argent hadn't believed it to be a fluke, but the possibility had to be eliminated.

Suddenly the flavor of the battle changed, as one of the Hounds let out a howl. Argent was ready for it, having heard the Hounds hunting cries many times back home. The Senshi on the other hand were totally unprepared.

The howl of the Hounds had a magical quality about it. It was their warcry, but almost as much it was intended to paralyze their prey with fear. It worked. The Senshi froze at the sound, looking around in apprehension. Unfortunately it worked a little too well, as the goblins froze as well. Argent quietly cursed the goblins.

Fortunately the remaining Hounds were not frozen, and they leapt to attack.

The Wee One chose this moment to reappear, floating in mid air above the Senshi. "Watch out!" he yelled.

This was enough to distract the Senshi from the soul numbing howl and allow them to notice the beasts almost upon them. The Senshi scattered.

Argent pondered attacking the floating Wee One. He was an easy target, floating above the fray. But before he could reach a decision, one of the Senshi (Sailor Mercury?) did something.

"Shabon Spray!"

Suddenly the station filled with a thick fog. Obviously magical, if one of the Senshi were deploying it. He muttered a counterspell, which had no effect. There was a **lot** of power behind the fog.

Argent frowned. He was totally cut off. He could hear the fight continuing within the fog, once more turned in favor of the Senshi. He could hear the Hounds begin to go down. The howl cut off suddenly as the Hound behind it was destroyed. Enough. He was himself at risk if he remained in this environment that so obviously favored the Senshi. A moment's concentration, and he was elsewhere.

It had been a sobering defeat. He had actually thought momentarily that the Hounds might reach the Senshi and cause some harm, if not actually kill one or more. But the Wee One, and then that fog...

On the other hand the mission could be considered a complete success. At the cost of relatively worthless troups he had gained important information on their opponents. Had it remained unknown, that fog could have easily spelled ruin for more critical missions later on. It still could. His counterspell had been worthless. Worse, the Senshi had apparently been totally unhampered by the fog. A spell that effected one's enemies, but not one's allies. Fiendish. Figuring out how to deal with that fog would be difficult. Fortunately it wasn't **his** problem.

Argent sat down at a desk and pulled out some paper to begin his report to the Chairman, but his mind was already running over what to do next. The secret was to vary the modes of his attacks, and the composition of his troops. That way the Senshi would have to vary how they dealt with his threats as well. Information about how they chose to deal with different threats could be as valuable as more pure information on their capabilities.

* * *

Laura hummed to herself as she hooked up her portable scanner to the main unit, and tapped a couple of keys to begin offloading its accumulated data. She hadn't gotten much. Macavity hadn't let her get that close to the fighting. While the portable scanner could pick up a lot more detail than the Base Station, it was severely limited in range, because of the size of it's power unit.

The scanner technology was cutting edge, a blend of magic and science. The magical capabilities required magical energy, and there was not a lot of that on Earth. The scanner had to absorb what it could from the surrounding environment to function. The portable scanner, about the size of a laptop computer, could gather very little energy. It had a top range of around a hundred meters. On the other hand, within that range, it could gather large amounts of data. The closer the object being scanned, the more data it could get.

The Base Station had a much larger system for gathering energy. Most of the strange-looking equipment around the central computer was actually there to gather the magical energy. The Base Station easily covered all of Tokyo from their fairly central apartment. On the other hand, at anything over a block or so, the station could discern little beyond location and size of gates.

The portable scanner could pick up a lot more, but only if she could get close enough with it. And Macavity had ordered her to stay well away from the fight. At the place she had waited for him, she had barely picked up anything about either the enemies or the Senshi.

She finished downloading what little she had gotten and set the bigger computer to processing the data. She sighed. How in the world was she supposed to get the information she needed if she wasn't allowed to go where she needed to go to get it?

Disobeying Macavity was out of the question. If she started doing that, he was liable to send her home. Which she had no intention of allowing. This was where she could continue her research, not there. She had exhausted all avenues of research available to her back home. So she just had to figure out some other way of getting the data she needed.


	3. Of Ships, Sailors and Sea Monsters

Argent walked along the docks, frowning at what the humans had done to this world. This was one of the worst examples of it. The harbor was so fouled with the reek of the humans that little still lived in it. He stared out at the human ships, coming and going constantly. Argent yearned to strike at the humans who so polluted this world. But that wasn't his mission. His was just to probe the Sailor Senshi for all information he could get.

Argent halted, a sudden idea taking form. He stopped and stared out over the harbor. Yes. It just might work. He could strike a blow at the disgusting humans, and give the Senshi quite a tough time. And all at the cost of no troops whatsoever. He grinned. Mentally, he began to weave a small hole between the worlds. This would take some time to set up, but would be well worth the effort.

Time to do some hunting. The hole fully formed, he stepped forward and vanished from this plane of existence.

* * *

From a nearby rooftop a small figure watched.  
Macavity's voice spoke softly. "Argent, you are just too predictable, old friend. Quite creative..., but predictable."

* * *

**Dark War Opening Theme**  
[Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening music.]

**_Gomen ne sunao ja nakute_**  
(Shot of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, back to back, in defensive poses.)  
**Y****_ume no naka nara ieru_****  
**(Shot of Sailor Mercury and Starhunter in similar poses.)  
**_Shikou kairo wa shotto sunzen_**  
(Shot of Mars and Venus is similar poses.)  
**_Ima sugu aitai yo_**  
(Shot of Jupiter and Laura in similar poses. Macavity tumbles past Makoto and Laura, who both sweatdrop.)  
**_Nakitaku naru you na Moonlight  
Denwa mo dekinai Midnight_**  
(Shot of Luna and Artemis, both sitting on their haunches, slowly orbiting each other.)  
**_Datte junjou dou shiyou  
Hatto wa mangekyou_**  
(Macavity suddenly appears between them, douses both from a seltzer bottle, then vanishes, leaving two wet and obviously pissed off kitties.)  
**_Tsuki no Hikari ni michibikare_**  
(Shot of The Chairman. He is standing against a dark background, and has his hand stretched out towards the camera, a lot like Jadeite did with his energy ball in the first few TV episodes. Instead of an energy ball, The Chairman is holding a globe, which he then closes his hand around, crushing the globe. Throughout, his face is emotionless.)  
**_Nandomo meguri-au_**  
(Shot of Argent sitting on a tree branch, waving his index finger at the camera in a "No, no, no." motion.)  
(Brief instrumental (organ?) riff)  
(Shot of Laura at her equipment, franticly punching buttons and turning dials)  
(Macavity appears behind her, sneaking up on her. She casually grabs a pillow from somewhere and tosses it behind her, tagging Macavity before he can get close to her.)  
**_Seiza no mataki kazoe_**  
(Close-up of Eternal Sailor Moon, a sad look on her face)  
**_Uranau koi no yukue_**  
(The view pulls back. Eternal Sailor Moon is sitting, looking out at a view we cannot see. She's not alone. Tuxedo Mask is right behind her, hands on her shoulder, comforting her.)  
**_Onaji kuni ni umareta no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Continue to pull out. The rest of the cast is now seen. Macavity is at Sailor Moon's feet, while the Inner Senshi and Laura are in a small semi circle behind her.)  
**_Shinjite iro no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Finally show that the whole gang is looking out over a pristine, untouched landscape. A couple of fairies (butterfly girls) fly by as the opening fades out...)

Sailor Moon Dark War_**  
**_**Episode Three: Of Ships, Sailors and Sea Monsters.**

_**by Andy Combs**_

* * *

What has gone before:

After six months of peace following the defeat of Galaxia, a leprechaun named Macavity appears before the Senshi warning of a new enemy. With Macavity's help the Senshi have easily defeated the first two attacks of the new enemy, whom Macavity calls the Dark Ones.

The leader of the Dark Ones, known only as The Chairman, has put their plans on hold while his servant Argent continues to probe the abilities of the local defenders, the Sailor Senshi, and tries to solve the mystery of why they have a leprechaun assisting them.

Argent walked along the shore of a dark lake. This was normally not an area he would choose to visit. Few visited here anymore, not since the local resident arrived. Those that visited generally didn't return.

A soft splash sounded from out on the lake. Argent heard, but didn't take notice. When one was hunting, one didn't spook one's prey. Which was certainly exactly what the prey thought. His target thought itself the hunter, but would soon learn the truth of the situation.

Argent continued to walk calmly along the shore, ignoring the dark shape that had risen almost silently from the water behind him. Long and slender, one end disappeared back into the murk of the lake, so that no indication of the thing's true size was evident. The shape hesitated for a few moments, appearing to analyze Argent carefully. Argent forced himself to be patient. The target had to make the first move for this to work.

The shape finally made its decision, and moved rapidly towards him, apparently preparing to encircle the much smaller human form. At the last moment before the shape struck him, Argent's eyes glowed with energy, and a field could be seen taking shape around him. In part, it was a typical kinetic defense shield. Argent had very strong innate shield generation abilities. But that was only part of the shield.

The rest was what had taken so long to set up. An elaborate spell woven by himself and several other crack wizards. Under the Chairman's mandate, he had been able to secure their services in its casting. Especially since it had been a no-risk activity for them. It wasn't like he was asking them to travel to Earth to fight the Senshi.

The dark tentacle struck, wrapping itself around him just as he had expected. Argent spoke the keyword, bringing the extra spells around him to full life.

The shield flared as it pulsed with energy. Realizing something was wrong, the tentacle began to release Argent, but he quickly grabbed it himself. The hunter had become the hunted.

The tentacle began to whip around, as the creature sought to free itself, but Argent was unmovable. The last aspect of the spells around him had been a variant on a simple ensnare spell meant to hold an opponent immobile. The variant held Argent's lower half in place, but left his upper half free. Free to grapple the creature, and cast any other spells he needed. It would take more strength than the creature had to have any hope of moving him.

Argent could feel the energy flow through him. The main spell was a typical life-force drain. Executed correctly, it would sink any living creature into unconsciousness. Argent didn't actually consume the energy himself, though. He would have use for it later. So for now he just shunted it off into his personal reserves.

Slowly the struggles slowed, then stopped, as the creature lost the ability to resist. Argent held tightly to the tentacle. If he let it go and slip back into the water, this would all have been for nothing.

Argent send out a mental call, and two huge forms emerged from the surrounding foliage. Ogres, they would help him prepare his catch for transport.

* * *

Usagi was gliding freely through a heaven of her own making. A moon-lit night, a walk along the harbor, and her Mamo-chan at her side. Life didn't get much better than this. Well, maybe if Macavity and those weird fang-faces hadn't showed up. But they had, and she would defeat them just like she had defeated the rest before them. There was no doubt in her mind of the eventual outcome.

She leaned into him, letting him support her weight a bit. That was what he was, the pillar of support for her world. When he had gone missing, during his first trip to America, it had been as if that support had been knocked out from under her. Her friends had done their best to keep her spirits up through those times, but it had been tough. And then there had been Seiya to complicate the situation.

Seiya. If she hadn't had Mamoru, might she have actually fallen for him? Sure, she had cared for him, deeply, but as a friend. But had she not been longing for Mamoru, might she have possibly fallen in love with Seiya? There was no way to know.

She shoved the might-have-beens aside.

* * *

Macavity arrived shortly after Usagi and Mamoru. He nodded in satisfaction as he saw them below. Well, almost everyone is in place, now we just need the guest of honor to show up. Or was that guest of horror? Macavity mentally shrugged. Whichever.

* * *

Argent concentrated briefly, opening the gate. It had to be big to accommodate his catch. As soon as the gate was in place, he sent a call to the ogres, who easily tossed their burden through. They then turned to return to their business, their roles done. Argent pondered them momentarily. They were slow and stupid, but strong and nearly invulnerable. If he could somehow get even one of them to the other side, it would make for a very interesting test of the Senshi's abilities. Something to keep in mind for the future.

The drain of keeping such a big gate open brought him back to reality, and he stepped through himself before letting it collapse behind him. Once through he quickly oriented himself. He was hovering right over the center of the harbor. Perfect. He could feel the slow pulse of life of his catch in the water below. With a nod he released the energy that he had gathered from it, allowing it to return to its owner, who would quickly awaken once it returned. Satisfied, he began to search out a spot from which to watch the coming fun.

* * *

Macavity sighed. The two love birds below him were getting a bit boring. He'd never been the one for playing voyeur on other's sex lives. Wowing the ladies himself was more his stile. On the other hand, until recently it had been an eternity since he had seen another of his species, let alone a female. That made for a pretty dull sex life.

A soft beeping sounded in his ear, and he muttered a phrase in response to activate the communications link.

Laura's voice sounded in his ear. "Master, we've got problems. Argent's got a gate open. It's in the water, just like you predicted, but it's bigger than you thought. This is the biggest gate we've seen yet. Easily fifty feet across. Oh, it just closed. Whatever he's bringing across, it's here."

"Fifty feet? In Serenity's name! What does he need a gate that size for?"

"Master? Obviously it's not the seaborne hoard you expected. What else could he be doing?"

Macavity frowned out at the water. "With a gate that large he could even bring across a... No. Even he wouldn't do that..."

"Master? I'm on my way..."

"NO! You stay put! I don't like the looks of this, and I don't want you anywhere near this."

"As you say, Master."

Macavity cut the link. "don't like the looks of this" didn't come close to what he was currently thinking. If Argent had done what he feared, things were going to get very ugly, very soon.

* * *

Mamoru relished the quiet times like these. He sometimes wished they could last forever. Well, in a sense they would. He knew that he would be alive for a long time, with his Usako at his side throughout. But things would certainly not be quiet that whole time. No, there would be enemies and allies, and a country to rule.

Rule? Him? Well, technically it would be Usagi, or rather Neo Queen Serenity, ruling, but he knew her too well. She had no organizational skills at all. If she was in charge of the day-to-day running of a household, let alone a kingdom, things would be a mess in no time. No, she might become the heart of Crystal Tokyo, and she would likely be the driving force behind the big decisions, but she would need someone to make the small decisions. To keep the rest running so she could do what she did best. And the logical candidate was himself. He knew he would be there at her side, so he felt he needed to be as useful to her as possible.

And that led to his reasons for schooling in America. He would be running the day-to-day operations of Crystal Tokyo if he had his way, and that meant he needed to learn as much as he could about business. He had already been in Japanese business school for the previous several years. Now he was learning what the Americans could teach. They had different ways of doing things. Not necessarily better, but different. He wanted to know as many different ways of leading as possible, so that when the time came, he would have options to choose from.

The side effect of this was that he had to spend time away from Tokyo. Away from his Usako. That was hard, but in the long run it was necessary. Well, it had seemed necessary until a new enemy had attacked right after he had returned. Leaving during a time of peace was one thing. Leaving when the Dark Ones were attacking was quite another. On the other hand, the Dark Ones had only attacked twice, and both attacks had been easily dealt with. Sure, Macavity had warned against overconfidence, but with enemies of the caliber they had had so far, that was difficult.

He hadn't told Usako about his internal debates over returning to America. He knew she would lobby for his staying, and he wanted to make the decision independently.

Oh well. He had one week remaining before his return flight to America. He could put off the decision a little longer.

He guided the two of them towards a fishing pier. For now he would try to forget such decisions, and just bask in his Usako's love, returning that love multiplied a hundred-fold.

* * *

Hate! Anger! Pain!

Never had it been treated thus. It was the ruler of this lake. It had been thus since awareness had first crept into it. And now something had dared to hurt it in its very home.

Hate!  
Hate!  
**HATE!**

Then it began to taste the waters around it. Foul! The water was so filled with various poisons it could barely be stood. A lesser creature might have died. But it was too strong for that. It could feel the strength returning to its numbed limbs.

Sensing upward it could feel the shapes of many objects floating on the surface above.

It could also feel the sparks of many living beings above. And living beings meant food. It had regained most of its strength, but in this new, poisoned environment, food was of more importance than ever. It began to make its way toward the surface and supper.

* * *

Macavity was worried. The Dark Ones had seaborne troops. That was what he had been expecting from Argent. They were tough, but being mostly confined to the water they would have been easy targets for Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. But troops would not have required a fifty-foot gate. The amount of energy needed to open a gate rose exponentially with the size of the gate. While a small gate could be held indefinitely, a large gate would exhaust the caster rapidly. According to Laura, Argent had held the gate open for barely fifteen second. Very little time if one was trying to bring over an army, but plenty of time if one was just dumping one large object over. One large, monstrous object, he suspected.

Macavity didn't know what Argent had tossed through, but it couldn't be good. There were a number of sea-monsters that size, and none were exactly friendly. "I take back what I said earlier." he spoke softly to no one in particular. "Argent, you've caught me totally by surprise. Quite a feat."

* * *

Usagi was still lost in her romantic thoughts as the two of them walked out to the end of the fishing pier. She could hear the water quietly lapping at the rocks below. The reflection of the moon shown in the water beside them. For a moment she realized the symmetry, as the moon lay across the water of Earth, the existences of both intertwined. Just like her and Mamoru's existences were forever linked.

They reached the end of the pier and just stood there for a while, not saying anything, just lost in each other's presence. That's part of why it took a few moments for the screams to register. Usagi blinked. Screams? She broke her eyes away from Mamoru and looked out over the harbor.

"Umm, Mamo-chan?"

Absently "Yes, Usako?"

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"If you're seeing a giant tentacle grabbing that ship, then yes, I think we're both seeing it."

Usagi sighed. "I was afraid of that. Time to get to work, then."

Mamoru nodded, and reached inside his jacket to pull out a cane, triggering his transformation as he did so.

Usagi tapped her watch and sent a quick status report to Luna before she transformed herself.

"Moon Eternal Power, Make Up!"

* * *

Argent had found himself a good place to watch from. Right by the water's edge, but far enough away from the creature that there was little chance of his getting drawn into the situation. He had to congratulate himself. This was one of his better ideas. The creature could wreck quite a bit of damage on the filthy humans in retribution for their abuse of the waters of the harbor, and when the Senshi arrived, as they surly would, it should be quite illuminating seeing how they chose to deal with it. He relaxed and watched the show unfolding.

* * *

Once the tentacles started rising from the water to enwrap one of the nearby ships, Macavity was able to quickly identify the creature. A Kraken. This was not good news. He cursed quietly to himself.

People screamed and ran from the area as the kraken raised a second tentacle to grab the ship. Fortunately, no one had fallen into the water, or they would have been kraken food almost at once.

"Hey, sea slug!" came Sailor Moon's voice. Macavity quickly looked around, and spotted her on top of the wheel-house of the ship under attack. Tuxedo Mask was standing at her side. "Attacking the shipping that fuels the Japanese economy is unforgivable! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"

The tentacles just continued to enwrap the ship, totally ignoring her. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask sweat-dropped. The two exchanged glances, and Tuxedo Mask nodded, before leaping away from her, his cane flashing as he attacked, using it like a sword.

Sailor Moon, meanwhile, had materialized her scepter, and was looking down at the tentacles, obvious anger flashing in her eyes. She began to twirl.

"Silver Honey Moon... Crisis Kick!"

Macavity raised his eyebrows. Even he could feel the amount of magical energy that was contained in the attack. Any doubts he had had about her effectiveness were gone. If she could throw around that much power...

But then the attack reached the kraken. There was a pretty pyrotechnic display, but that was all. The kraken was unharmed. In fact, it had noticed the attack about as well as it had noticed her entry speech.

Tuxedo Mask was doing better, though not by much. He definitely had its attention, as he wove his cane around him with a speed that would have done some of history's more famous swordsmen proud. Of course, they hadn't had the enhanced strength and agility that Tuxedo Mask possessed.

But he wasn't hurting the creature either.

Sailor Moon could be seen shaking her head in frustration. Macavity raised his eyebrows in surprise as she shifted her grasp on her scepter, now holding it as if it were a mace of some sort. Was she actually planning on attacking the kraken physically with that thing?

Apparently so, as she leapt off the wheelhouse to join Tuxedo Mask. But disaster struck as she landed on the wet deck, lost her footing, and went sprawling to the deck. Her scepter was knocked from her hand and clattered away.

And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Macavity spotted one of the tentacles headed straight for the spot where Sailor Moon was. Tuxedo Mask noticed her dilemma as well, and leapt for her, arriving a fraction of a second before the tentacle.

Macavity winced as the tentacle swept through the space where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were. The power in one of those tentacles was enough to injure even a Sailor Senshi. And if they had been swept into the water, as it appeared, they were as good as gone, for that was the kraken's home turf.

Macavity looked around, but saw no sign of his two allies. He cursed softly. Argent's little plan seemed to have paid off. Another tentacle slipped up from the water and began to encircle the ship again. If the kraken got enough of them around it, it could easily tear the ship in half.

Suddenly a rose embedded itself in the tentacle. The tentacle writhed in pain before slipping off the ship.

Macavity looked up. There, wings spread wide, was Sailor Moon, hovering over the ship. Tuxedo Mask was with her, one arm holding himself at her side. His other hand already held another rose, ready to throw.

A tentacle shot from the water, but Sailor Moon easily eluded it, while Tuxedo Mask impaled it with the rose.

Macavity had to grin at their ingenuity, but he knew this was no real solution. The roses were doing no real damage to the beast. At best it was a stalemate, with the kraken unable to reach them, but them doing little more than annoying it.

The problem with kraken was that they were really only vulnerable at the core, where the brain and other organs were located. And the core tended to stay under the water where it was all but impossible to attack. And in the evening gloom, just locating the core was impossible, let alone attacking it.

Blast it, there had to be some way to turn the situation around. Unfortunately his abilities were of little use against something like a kraken.

Macavity spotted a figure over by the harbor's edge, quietly watching the fight. Argent. Macavity frowned. Argent was quite powerful. Quite possibly a match for the Senshi. That he was just standing on the sidelines watching made little sense. Macavity paused at that thought. The sidelines... His face split in a wide grin and he disappeared.

* * *

Argent was debating taking a few shots at the hovering Sailor Moon. She had obviously not noticed him, so he could quite likely blast her from complete surprise. And if he timed it right, he could drop them both down into the water, where the fight would be all but over.

The main thing holding him back was the absence of the rest of the Senshi. They were certainly on the way to reinforce their comrades. If they should arrive to see him blast their friend, they could easily cut him down before he knew they were there. As it was, he was a nameless spectator. No reason for the Senshi to attack someone just standing and watching the fight.

Argent watched the continuing fight. It really had reached a stalemate. Tuxedo Mask was hitting every tentacle that arose, but he was doing no real harm to the creature.

One item of note was the fact that Sailor Moon herself was launching no attacks on the kraken. Maybe it was taking all her power to fly as she was. Something to remember.

Suddenly he heard a voice behind him. "Hey, Argent! Take a swim!" He had barely begun to spin to assess who it might be, when something hit him in the back, upsetting his balance. He toppled ungracefully over into the water.

* * *

Sailor Moon was tiring. Flight wasn't one of her easier powers, in spite of the wings, which was why she rarely used it. And especially carrying Tuxedo Mask. Her wings were beginning to ache, and she began to think she might have to retreat. She obviously couldn't land here at the harbor, or this reject from a tentacle-porn anime would get them. That left flying away, defeated, something she hated to do. But getting munched by this thing would serve no one any good.

The biggest problem was that with the bulk of the thing hidden beneath the darkened waters, there was no way to know exactly where to strike. Nowhere to attack to try to destroy it.

Suddenly the tentacles stopped attacking, vanishing beneath the waves. Sailor Moon took the opportunity to land on top of a nearby loading crane, where she could still keep an eye on the water below, ready to move if the monster should attack again.

A commotion erupted off to one side, and the water in that area came alive with tentacles flailing wildly.

"It's attacking someone!" Sailor Moon realized aloud. She tensed to launch into the air once more to assist whoever it was.

"Don't bother, Lady Moon." came a voice from near her feet. Macavity.

"He can take care of himself."

"He? You know who it's attacking?"

Macavity chuckled. "Know? I pushed him in! He was paying so much attention to your fight, he neglected his own safety."

Sailor Moon glared at the leprechaun. "So you pushed someone in just because they were careless? How cruel."

"Cruel for the kraken, maybe. Even underwater, the kraken'll be no match for him."

Which appeared to be true, as the monstrous form of the kraken was now rising out of the water, lifted from below.

Then they could see the figure doing the lifting. A dark red battle aura glowed around him as he rose from the depths, lifting the kraken from the water. Several tentacles of the kraken were wrapped around the figure, vainly trying to crush it. Then the figure rose up into the air, the still struggling kraken now completely removed from the water.

"I refuse to be eaten by the likes of you" spoke the figure, which cocked back a fist. The fist began to glow white. "Die, you stupid beast!" With that, a beam of energy leapt from his hand, piercing the kraken through. An animal scream split the air, and the kraken disintegrated in the beam.

The figure was left, hovering in the air, still glowing.

* * *

Argent was livid. It had been ages since he had been humiliated to this degree. The last time had been... He dismissed that thought. Keep focused on the here and now.

He could see Sailor Moon standing on a nearby crane, obviously tired from her recent fight. Argent was tired as well, but not that much. Now was an excellent opportunity to finish off one of the Sailor Senshi.

The leprechaun appeared before him. "You know, it's against the law to go swimming around here. Supposed to be dangerous for your health, or some such."

That voice. It was the same as the voice he had heard just before he was pushed in.

"Why you little..." He brought a fist forward and fired off a short burst of energy at the leprechaun. Not much, but more than enough to fry a leprechaun.

The leprechaun vanished a split second before the energy hit him, only to reappear a few feet away. "Now, that's not nice."

Argent forced his temper down. He had seen how the wee one worked. If he kept flailing at the wee one in anger, it would be exactly what the wee one wanted. His anger began to rise again when he realized that the wee one had already gotten Argent to do his work, destroying the kraken. If Argent had simply teleported out of the water, the kraken would still be on its rampage. Instead he had been tricked into letting his anger rule him and destroyed his own tool. Argent quickly clamped down on the new anger. This was not the time or place for it. The wee one was far too fast for him to hit, tired as he was. Fortunately, he had other targets, like the exhausted Sailor Moon. He turned his attention back to the nearby crane...

...and frowned to see that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were no longer alone. They had been joined by the rest of the Inner Senshi, who were standing guard over their comrade at full battle readiness. Argent sighed. While they were not attacking him at the moment, that would change instantly if he tried to finish off Sailor Moon. And he held no illusions about who would win that fight, considering his current condition. He returned his attention to the leprechaun once more. "This battle belongs to you, wee one. But the real war has yet to even begin. I won't forget your deeds this day." And with that he teleported away.

* * *

Tuxedo Mask watched as the mid-air standoff ended. He was glad it was over. Sailor Moon was conscious, but would obviously be of little use if the fight had resumed. He had his arms around her, and had been ready to flee with her at a moment's notice if needed. He might not be able to fly like her, but he was by far the fastest and strongest jumper among the group, and was sure he could get them to safety if need be.

It hadn't been needed. The rest of the Inner Senshi had arrived, ready to fight, and taken up a defensive perimeter around him and Sailor Moon. He had relaxed a little, but remained ready for a hasty retreat with Sailor Moon if the situation had changed again.

The incident had answered one thing, however. The new enemy was no pushover, no matter how the first two battles had been won. In fact it had been Macavity who won the battle for them this day with his tricks. He and Sailor Moon had been almost useless.

No, there was no question about it. With a enemy to fight, there was only one place for him, and that was at his love's side. Now, and forever, that was his place.

He would return to America once more just long enough to reclaim his belongings, and then come back home, at least until this current threat was dealt with.

After the man who destroyed the sea monster vanished, Macavity drifted down to join them on the crane. "Well. That ends another one." he said in that jovial voice of his.

Sailor Mars tried to grab him by the lapels of his little suit, but he darted back out of her reach. She stopped at the edge of the crane, glaring at him as he hovered just out of reach. "Okay, you little joker. I've had enough. What was that in the water, who was that guy, and most of all, what in the hell is going on with these enemies?"

Macavity's grin just grew wider, which did nothing to calm down Sailor Mars. "Well, let's see. The creature was a Kraken, the guy was Argent, and what the hell is going on is a long story."

Mars grinned evilly. "We'll make the time, but I think we need to hear the long story. It's about time we knew who we were fighting."

Macavity bowed in mid air. "As you wish, Lady Mars. When would be a good time?"

"Today is Friday. How about tomorrow afternoon at the shrine?"

"Very well." He reached into his coat and pulled out the pocket watch, flipping it open momentarily. He nodded at what he saw then closed the watch and returned it to his coat. "I'll see you there at 2 PM. And remember, no cats." With that he vanished.

Tuxedo Mask shook his head. An enemy that dumped kraken into Tokyo Harbor and a capricious, halfway insane ally. What a world.

* * *

Luna watched from around the edge of a nearby shipping crate. So that was the mysterious cat-hating leprechaun, Macavity. Strange. Luna had the weirdest sense of familiarity about him. Almost deja-vu. On the other hand she was sure she had never met a leprechaun before. So why did this Macavity seem so familiar? Oh, well. That was a question for another day.


	4. Chapter 4: Face of the Enemy

Blurb

* * *

**Dark War Opening Theme**  
[Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening music.]

**_Gomen ne sunao ja nakute_**  
(Shot of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, back to back, in defensive poses.)  
**Y****_ume no naka nara ieru_****  
**(Shot of Sailor Mercury and Starhunter in similar poses.)  
**_Shikou kairo wa shotto sunzen_**  
(Shot of Mars and Venus is similar poses.)  
**_Ima sugu aitai yo_**  
(Shot of Jupiter and Laura in similar poses. Macavity tumbles past Makoto and Laura, who both sweatdrop.)  
**_Nakitaku naru you na Moonlight  
Denwa mo dekinai Midnight_**  
(Shot of Luna and Artemis, both sitting on their haunches, slowly orbiting each other.)  
**_Datte junjou dou shiyou  
Hatto wa mangekyou_**  
(Macavity suddenly appears between them, douses both from a seltzer bottle, then vanishes, leaving two wet and obviously pissed off kitties.)  
**_Tsuki no Hikari ni michibikare_**  
(Shot of The Chairman. He is standing against a dark background, and has his hand stretched out towards the camera, a lot like Jadeite did with his energy ball in the first few TV episodes. Instead of an energy ball, The Chairman is holding a globe, which he then closes his hand around, crushing the globe. Throughout, his face is emotionless.)  
**_Nandomo meguri-au_**  
(Shot of Argent sitting on a tree branch, waving his index finger at the camera in a "No, no, no." motion.)  
(Brief instrumental (organ?) riff)  
(Shot of Laura at her equipment, franticly punching buttons and turning dials)  
(Macavity appears behind her, sneaking up on her. She casually grabs a pillow from somewhere and tosses it behind her, tagging Macavity before he can get close to her.)  
**_Seiza no mataki kazoe_**  
(Close-up of Eternal Sailor Moon, a sad look on her face)  
**_Uranau koi no yukue_**  
(The view pulls back. Eternal Sailor Moon is sitting, looking out at a view we cannot see. She's not alone. Tuxedo Mask is right behind her, hands on her shoulder, comforting her.)  
**_Onaji kuni ni umareta no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Continue to pull out. The rest of the cast is now seen. Macavity is at Sailor Moon's feet, while the Inner Senshi and Laura are in a small semi circle behind her.)  
**_Shinjite iro no Mirakuru Romansu_**  
(Finally show that the whole gang is looking out over a pristine, untouched landscape. A couple of fairies (butterfly girls) fly by as the opening fades out...)

Sailor Moon Dark War_**  
**_**Episode Four: Face of the Enemy.**

_**by Andy Combs**_

* * *

What has gone before:

After six months of peace following the defeat of Galaxia, a leprechaun named Macavity appeared before the Senshi warning of a new enemy. With Macavity's help the Senshi easily defeated the first two attacks of the new enemy, whom Macavity calls the Dark Ones.

The leader of the Dark Ones, known only as The Chairman, has put their plans on hold while his servant Argent continues to probe the abilities of the local defenders, the Sailor Senshi, and tries to solve the mystery of why they have a leprechaun assisting them.

Last episode Argent dropped a Kraken in Tokyo Harbor, and it might have defeated Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, if Macavity hadn't knocked Argent into the water, forcing Argent to destroy the Kraken himself. Mars demanded that Macavity explain who or what the Dark Ones were, and Macavity promised an explanation.

* * *

Rei finished sweeping off the courtyard area just as her friends began to arrive.

Ami was first to arrive, followed soon by Minako and Makoto. There was no sign of Usagi, though that was not much of a surprise. The day Usagi was on time for something besides eating or shopping was the time Rei should consider putting up her robes. That had to qualify as one of the signs the world was about to end.

Usagi finally came crashing up the temple steps, a full fifteen minutes late. It didn't really matter, since Macavity hadn't put in an appearance yet either.

As soon as Usagi, panting from running, reached Rei, the diminutive form of Macavity materialized right beside her. Rei frowned at the leprechaun. His timing...

She sighed and motioned the two of them into her room, where the others were waiting. Mamoru was back in America for a week or so, but had promised that he would catch the earliest flight back that he could.

The girls circled around the table where they usually gathered to discuss Senshi business, and Macavity landed in the middle of the table.

Macavity spoke first. "Let's see. Where to start... How much do you know about the Silver Millennium?"

"The Moon Kingdom? Not a lot." Ami responded. "We know we lived there once, long ago, but none of us remember much more than fragments of that life. I know that I sometimes have fairly detailed dreams about that time, but once awake it all evaporates like most dreams." The rest of the girls nodded. They had obviously had similar dreams.

"I thought as much. You do at least know how it ended - destroyed by Beryl and Metallia?" Usagi nodded. "But can I assume you know nothing of its history? Of what came before?"

"I'm afraid not."

"Very well. The Silver Millennium was mankind's second great age, created when humanity broke free from slavery under an oppressive alien race. Before the Slavers came the Golden Imperium, mankind's first great age. But before that... Before even the Golden Imperium. That's where we must look for the secret of the Dark Ones."

"The Ancients?" asked Ami quietly.

Macavity just stared at Ami for a few moments, then burst out laughing. "Now, where did you learn *that* name, lass?"

"It's just something from a fragment of memory. Something about the Ancients inhabiting this world before humans."

Macavity grinned. "It's been a long time since I heard that name. You're correct, the Ancients did inhabit this planet before your race, but they are not the Dark Ones. By the stars, I doubt your race would stand a chance if they were. Little was known about the Ancients, but at a minimum, they were immensely powerful. No, the Dark Ones are more recent than the Ancients, but that's still not saying much.

Hmm. Let me tell it like this..."

"There once was a group without a home. I know not what happened to it, but they had become travellers. Moving from world to world, searching for a new home.

Finally they found what seemed to be a perfect world. Luscious, pristine, and best yet, unoccupied. They quickly settled there, making it their own. They established a new civilization there.

The civilization flourished for tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, existing in harmony with the planet, until a new element entered the situation. One of the indigenous animals of the planet proved to be much more intelligent than they had believed, and had been secretly watching them and learning the ways of civilization. Eventually the natives were discovered, and the travelers made a fatal mistake. They enslaved the natives, turning them into laborers. This continued for thousands of more years, as the natives continued to learn civilization from the travelers. But even worse, the natives were learning the ways of magic as well. And the natives proved to be quite adept at the use of magic.

Eventually the natives rose up in revolt, and the travelers discovered to their horror that the natives had been keeping both their true numbers and their facility with magic hidden for centuries. Once the revolt began, and the far more numerous natives proved to have the advantage, and the race found themselves facing defeat and extinction.

They faced a hard choice, and in the end they chose to flee rather than to perish. And so they left their home for elsewhere, intending to never return.

The natives then built their own civilizations, which rose and fell, and eventually the ones they had driven out fell from memory, becoming little more than legends and fairy tales.

As I'm sure is quite obvious, the natives I speak of are you. Humans. The planet is this one. Earth. Terra. Whatever you want to call it. Your true homeworld."

"And the others? The wanderers?" Rei asked.

"They moved on. However, they were given no time to build ships for any sort of mass exodus, and so had to flee in another way. They opened a gate in the fabric of reality. A doorway to another world."

"A parallel dimension," Ami interjected.

"Correct, but they had little experience with dimensional travel, and soon discovered that they hadn't traveled nearly as far as they needed. There are an infinite number of large, full dimensions, but for each full dimension there are a number of smaller, connected dimensions linked only to it."

"Like the Dark Kingdom?" asked Ami.

Macavity nodded. "And it was one of these "pocket" dimensions into which they retreated. The only path out of there led back into this one first. By the time they realized this fact, the humans had established wards over the possible dimensional paths. Individuals could and did bypass the wards, but they had managed to retreat with their whole population mostly intact. There was no way short of a war that they could get the bulk of their numbers past the humans.

"On the other hand, the world in which they found themselves was quite beautiful in its own way, and was in fact better suited to their magical nature than Earth had been. For they were beings almost more of a magic nature than a physical nature. Actually, labeling them a single race is inappropriate as well, for they are of diverse natures.

"It was because of those diverse natures that they split into two factions soon after reaching their new home. One group looked around their new home and, liking it, decided that they were tired of fighting. They simply wanted to settle their new home. The other faction wanted to mount an assault on the world they had just left, reclaiming it and punishing the ones who had usurped it from them. It is this faction that I now call the Dark Ones.

"But reclamation was impossible at the time, so the Dark Ones were forced to settle into their new homes just like the rest. But they never forgot their hatred of humanity, nor did they forget the world they were forced to give up.

"Time passed, and they watched for opportunities. I know of only one time when they attempted a full invasion, and it failed totally, but that's a whole other tale.

"In one way or another they have been interfering with humanity all along. The large gates have been sealed shut since the flight, but there have always been ways for adventurous young folk to find their way here from there. And then there are the ones like Argent, able to weave gates between the worlds at will. Argent is somewhat unique, fortunately. He's the strongest warpsmith I've ever seen. I suspect he could travel anywhere in the multiverse he wanted. Unfortunately, like most of the Dark Ones, he's still obsessed with this one world, and has no eyes for any other."

"Hold on a moment," Rei spoke up.

"Yes, Lady Mars?"

"You say that these Dark Ones have been visiting this world all along?"

"Well, both groups have, actually. The reasons may vary, but individuals have indeed been visiting for millenia."

"I think that you lie, Mr. Leprechaun. If there had been supernatural visitors to this world for as long as you claim, then surely we would have heard something about them."

Macavity gave Rei the best poker face she had ever seen. There was nothing readable in his expression. "And what makes you think you've never heard of them?"

Rei opened her mouth to respond, but found herself speechless.

Macavity broke into a grin. "You humans are such a bundle of contradictions. Without a shred of proof you'll follow any religious teachings dangled before you, and yet there are other things that your skepticism refuses to acknowledge, not unless proof is placed right in front of your eyes."

Rei glared at Macavity, but said nothing, sure there was an insult to her faith in there somewhere, but not quite able to identify it for certain.

Macavity continued. "As an example, think of yourselves. Except for those who have actually seen you in person, what does your average Japanese person think of you? Oh sure, occasionally one of the tabloid photographers manages to get a blurry photo of you, or maybe a better photo of one of your enemies, but the mainstream media won't even touch the subject of Sailor Senshi. They explain away sightings of you as mass hysteria, and find other explanations when you leave physical damage behind. The rate of gas main explosions has risen significantly in the past several years, according to officials.

"Thus, to your average person, you are simply urban legends. Mythical figures." He reached into his coat and pulled out a Sailor Moon UFO-catcher doll. "Or worse, you're fictional characters to be marketed and exploited." He tossed the doll into the air, where it vanished with a pop. "But few actually believe in your existence."

Rei just rolled her eyes. "Is there a point to this?"

Macavity gave her a sad look. "Just trying to use your own experience to illustrate the point. Look. You've seen how you yourselves have drifted into legend status, and **you** are still active, creating new stories for the tabloids to write. Think about a visitor a hundred or a thousand years before. How are you likely to hear about them by this point? Why, as legends or myths. And that's how it is with the Dark Ones, and the other faction as well. You know of them through your myths.

"I said before that they had many names. Whenever you humans encounter them, you tend to name them anew. I think you are ready to hear of a few of those names. The traveling civilization as a whole have been known as elves, faerie, yousei, shilde. The Dark Ones are most commonly known by a name that shows them in contrast to their more peaceful cousins. The peaceful ones have been called the Seelie Court, the Dark Ones, the Unseelie Court."

If Macavity expected a dramatic reaction to this announcement he was disappointed. Ami was frowning, but none of the rest of them showed much response. Rei herself had heard a couple of the names before. Yousei was Japanese for fairy, for one thing. Rei got a sudden mental image of a bunch of butterfly-winged girls holding little spears attacking the Senshi. It was a ridiculous image, and Rei pushed it away before she started giggling at it.

"Okay, Mr. Leprechaun, I guess I can see that. We" - Rei motioned at the other Senshi - "know that mankind had colonies across the solar system, but humanity as a whole has totally forgotten it. I guess it's not too hard to accept another, older race having inhabited here even before humanity. To accept that many of our myths and fables stem from individuals of this race is a bit harder, but after what I've seen in the last few years, I sometimes think I'm ready to believe almost anything."

Macavity just grinned.

Rei continued. "Very well. What good does this history lesson do us?"

Macavity shrugged. "That's your problem. You asked for the information, what you do with it is up to you." Rei had to frown. He was right. He had never promised the information would be of practical use.

Ami spoke up again. "Well, how about answering this one: Why are they here, now? What are they up to?"

Macavity nodded. "That is indeed a good question. And one I have no ready answer for. As I mentioned, they attempted to invade in force once before and were repelled easily. It was after the fall of the Silver Millennium, and that was their problem. Magic left this world with the Fall, and the Dark Ones, being magical beings, need magic. They invaded a world that was in anarchy, ripe for the taking, but where most of their weapons would barely function, if at all. Even without a united Political structure, mankind repelled them easily. They retreated and have not returned in force since.

"Until recently, that is. Now we have Argent popping up here and there, releasing creatures for no detectable purpose. I know Argent better than that. He's not only powerful, but smart as well. He has a purpose, be sure of it. Pray that we figure it out before it's too late. And even worse, while Argent's the only Dark One on Earth that I'm directly aware of, he was never the type to be doing something like this on his own. There is most certainly someone behind him, directing him. One of the Dark Lords, most likely. And that is who we truly have to fear.

"But back to your question. Why here and now? I don't know. The situation on this world is now no better for the Dark Ones. Magic is still in very short supply here. And to make things worse, the Earth now has defenders. You, for one, but there are also the conventional forces of mankind. If the Dark Ones were driven back by disorganized humans wielding swords and bows, how do they think they stand a chance against organized militaries with tanks and jets? An ogre may be tough, but I doubt one could withstand a direct shot from a tank. It just doesn't fit.

"And the 'here' fits even less. Why begin their attack here in Tokyo, where the strongest magical defenders in the world reside?" Macavity shook his head. "I plead ignorance."

Ami spoke up. "I might have an answer to that one." Rei rolled her eyes. She knew what was coming. Ami's "Synchronicity Zone" theory, about how Tokyo was surrounded by an area in which probability was warped, which served to bring most enemies here first, and which made it probable, if not certain, that the Senshi would be in the area of individual attacks. Ami had been working on the theory for a couple of years now, trying it out on everyone who knew enough about the Senshi for her to trust. She had yet to find anyone who could follow her reasoning enough to take an educated opinion one way or another on the theory.

Macavity, on the other hand, seemed to follow her exactly. When she finished, he nodded. "That would explain a lot of things." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, it fits. You are truly the Senshi Mercury."

Minako frowned. "What fits?"

Macavity stared at Minako for a few moments before speaking. "How much do you know about the nature of magic?"

"Almost nothing," Minako replied.

"Very well. I'll try to keep this simple. Magic is the manipulation of magical energy, or mana. Most magic rewrites reality in one way or another. A teleport spell simply says that the person is really there rather than here. Your Senshi attacks tend to summon up elements that did not exist moments before and direct them to various purposes. Magic spells are simply the structure by which this modification of reality is performed.

"Now, there are many different sources of mana in the universe, but there are really only two main ones. The first is from life. All life generates mana. From the smallest microbe to the largest whale in the sea, all generate mana as they go through life.

"But it's the second source that is important in this case, namely planets. All planets generate mana at an immense rate. Much more than any one living being could generate. And, under normal circumstances, this mana is then released into the surrounding atmosphere around the planet. Free mana, by it's very nature, tends to warp reality. A normal planet with free flowing mana will not see enough warping to be really noticeable, but if other conditions are right, it can and will push the right atoms together to create primitive life, and then slowly move that life up an evolutionary chain.

"On these 'normal' planets, mana flows up to the surface of the planet through a series of pores, or "wells", and then flows out across the surface, to be gathered and used by anyone with the knowledge to do so. But on *this* planet something strange happened. At the same time as the Moon Kingdom fell, something happened to the wells on Earth. They were capped off, sealed. How, why, by whom? Who knows? But the flow of mana ceased, leaving the surface without magic.

Minako started to ask a question, but Macavity cut her off. "How does that fit in with Lady Mercury's theory? I'm getting to it. I said the wells were sealed, not destroyed. They're still there, right where they've always been. They vary greatly in size, but all are sealed. From the smallest personal well to the giant royal well that once sat under Arcadia itself. The Arcadian well, which once sat under the throne of Beryl herself, still sits under one of mankind's greatest cities."

He gently tapped a foot on the ground under him. "The capital of Japan sits on the exact site where Beryl's capital once stood. And deep below us lies what is now more appropriately called the Tokyo Well. Sealed for thousands of years, but now leaking mana into a mana starved world, unless I miss my guess. It's no wonder that probability is so screwed up in this city, with that sleeping giant down there."

Macavity's talk about sleeping giants prompted Rei to extend her mystical senses down there herself. If any of them could feel the Well below them, it was her. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination or not, but she thought she could feel something down there. She shook her head and brought herself back to the present.

* * *

Argent sighed as he sipped his drink. He was in a modern high-rise apartment that the Chairman had provided him as a base of operations on this world. He could see why the humans had become so decadent. This was a life one could come to enjoy.

"Are you fighting humans, or becoming one, brother dear?" came a sultry voice from the shadows at the side of the room.

Argent frowned at the shadowed shape. "Aurium, *dear* sister," - his voice dripped with sarcasm - "what brings you to this human-infested orb?"

"Why, I'm just checking up on you, brother. Can't a girl show concern for her only brother?"

"I guess there's a first time for everything," snapped Argent.

"Brother! You wound me."

"Not for lack of motivation, I don't."

"Well. I *had* come to deliver a message, but if this is how I'm to be treated..."

"Let me guess. He's ready for transport, correct?"

"How did you know?"

"Because I've been waiting for that message. And besides, I doubt they would have trusted you to deliver anything more complicated."

Silence filled the apartment momentarily, then the shadows shifted, and Aurium was gone.

Argent grinned. That had been enjoyable. He finished the drink and rose. Time to get to work.

* * *

"And how do you fit into this complicated situation?" Makoto asked.

"Me?" Macavity grinned. "Why, I'm just..." He stopped suddenly. "Argent's just opened another gate, fairly close by." He gave the location.

The Senshi looked at each other, determined looks in every eye. All quietly pulled out their transformation items.

Macavity grinned at this, and faded from sight.

* * *

The last few people were streaming out of the grocery store as the Senshi arrived. Mars nodded to herself in satisfaction. Not a bad response time.

There was obviously quite a commotion inside, but what caught her attention was the figure leaning up against the front of the building. Argent. Obviously his presence had been noticed by the other Senshi as well, as all had turned to stare at him.

Argent noticed the Senshi at about the same time, and grinned widely, the grin being made slightly crooked by his facial scar. "Welcome, welcome. We've been expecting you." Mars went into a combat ready stance, noticing peripherally that the other Senshi had done the same.

"My goodness. I'm afraid this just won't do. You see, you have much more pressing business inside." The Senshi didn't move. Various random crashing noises could still be heard coming from inside the store. Argent rolled his eyes dramatically. "The problem is that you got here so fast, the goblins haven't had time to start killing the hostages. So you could waste time out here fighting me, or you could go inside and maybe save a few of your fellow vermin."

Mars glanced around at her companions, but saw in their faces that they all knew there was no choice. Saving lives took top priority any day. Argent motioned them towards the door once more, this time taking several steps back to give them plenty of room. The Senshi rushed past him into the store.

* * *

Argent grinned. That had worked well enough. There weren't really any hostages, but it had been a convenient enough lie to get the Senshi to enter and engage the goblins inside, as well as his other surprise.

"When are you so flowery, old friend?" Argent glared at the source of the voice: the leprechaun.

"You again. Who the hell are you? You seem to know quite a bit about me, but I'm sure I've never met *you* before. And I certainly never had a leprechaun as a friend."

The leprechaun grinned. "Now, now. I asked my question first."

Argent just glared.

"Hmm. Okay. If you don't want to answer, don't. But don't expect me to answer your questions either."

Argent considered momentarily answering the pest's questions, just to see if it would answer his own. He dismissed the thought. That would be playing the leprechaun's game. Bad idea.

After a few more moments with no response, the leprechaun shrugged. "Well, much as I enjoy this stimulating conversation, I'm afraid that I have other things to do. Until next time..." The leprechaun faded from sight. Argent frowned. He was going to have to do something about that little pest.

* * *

Sailor Mars danced and wove among her enemies, her every motion bringing destruction to her opponents. One moment a kick sent a goblin flying back into a shelf to land in a crumpled heap. The next, she grabbed a crude spear from another, reversed the spear to hit the goblin with the haft, and broken the spear in half before tossing it away.

Thoughts of any sort of mercy were the farthest thing from her mind. The enemy would offer no such mercy. She couldn't afford the luxury herself.

One of the goblins swung clumsily at her with a club. She grinned. She was so much faster than it that it seemed to be moving in slow motion. She easily dodged out of the way of the swing and then danced in close. One sharp jab to its throat and there was one less goblin in the fight.

She began to look around for more opponents when something whooshed past her ear. A quick glance showed a small knife protruding from a nearby box of cereal. A modern knife. One of the goblins appeared to be improvising.

A quick look around spotted the knife thrower on top of one of the ceiling supports over by the meat section. He was already preparing to throw another knife. And given how close the first one had come, Mars realized that she needed to eliminate him before that could happen. A quick application of senshi enhanced legs and she was among the ceiling supports, about halfway between her original position and the sniper. The sniper had seen this, however, and was already shifting his aim to her new position. Mars still had the advantage in speed, and had leapt straight at the sniper before he had even finished shifting his aim, let alone had a chance to throw. Mars crashed into the goblin and the two of them tumbled off the support towards the meat section below.

Mars tried to shift to land on her feet, but found herself entangled by the desperately struggling goblin. She mentally sighed. No problem, really. A fall from this height was no threat to her enhanced body.

And it proved to not really matter, as her fall was broken by some large furry object. Mars couldn't see what it was, being still tangled up with the goblin. But the thought began to penetrate that there was nothing in a supermarket that should be this large. Nor this furry for that matter.

When she heard the thing begin to howl in fury, she begin to worry.

When a huge hand reached up to grab her and the still struggling goblin, she began to be afraid.

Fortunately she didn't have to be afraid for very long, since a few moments later everything went black.

* * *

Macavity watched the ongoing fight. As usual the senshi were having no problems handling the goblins. The ability levels were just too different.

Once again he puzzled at the purpose of it all. Argent knew the goblins were useless, so why keep using them? The only answer that fit was that, like they did for the Hounds a couple of battles back, the goblins were serving to cover up something else. But if that was so, where and what was the real threat?

Macavity didn't have to wait long for an answer. Suddenly a bellow of rage echoed throughout the store, followed moments later by a white and red missile speeding across the store. Macavity barely had time to spot the missile before a green and white streak came from the side to intersect it. The two shapes then landed and slowed down enough to be seen. The green streak had been Sailor Jupiter, who had leapt up into the air to catch the other, which proved to be the still form of Sailor Mars.

The rest of the senshi quickly converged on Jupiter and Mars. Mercury grabbed Mars' wrist. "Her pulse is strong. I'll take care of her while the rest of you deal with whatever took her out." The others nodded and headed as a group towards the meat section. Only a few goblins remained to threaten them as they moved, and these were easily dealt with.

Macavity already had a pretty good guess as to what they would find, and his suspicions were soon confirmed. In the center of the meat section stood a thoroughly enraged ogre. Large empty sections of the nearby shelves showed what he had been up to before being interrupted by Sailor Mars.

The Senshi skidded to a halt at the sight of the monster. The ogre was just over ten feet tall and covered with a light brown fur. A huge mouth filled with nasty looking teeth was still bellowing its rage. The ogre spotted the Senshi and roared a challenge before charging at them.

Macavity quickly shouted out information to the Senshi. "It's an ogre. Strong and nearly invulnerable, but not a lot faster than the goblins, and even less intelligent." As he finished the ogre was reaching the Senshi, who scattered. Jupiter leapt right over it, and let loose a small ball of lightning as she passed. Aside from singeing its fur, the lightning had little effect.

"Hiiii-Yaaaa" screamed Venus as she launched herself at the ogre feet first. She hit and rebounded away, out of reach. While the ogre obviously felt that attack, it did not appear to have been harmed by it either.

"Silver Honey-Moon Crisis Kick!" came Sailor Moon's attack from one side. Macavity could again sense the amount of sheer power contained in her attack, but as had been the case against the Kraken, the blast seemed to have no effect other that creating a nice light show. Sailor Moon nodded to herself, as if she had expected the result, and then she did something Macavity would have never expected, she turned and ran away from the fight, darting down one of the food isles and vanishing from sight. Macavity frowned. He hadn't thought her a coward.

Jupiter and Venus were doing a good job keeping the ogre occupied. They had stopped using their magical attacks once these had been shown to be almost useless, and were instead playing hit-and-run with it physically, darting in to make one or two strikes, then away before it could respond. Mars must have been caught by surprise by the ogre since it showed no sign of being able to catch Jupiter or Venus. On the other hand, they were doing no harm to the ogre either, so it was turning into another stalemate.

"MOON ETERNAL HALATION!"

Macavity turned to see Sailor Moon up on top of one of the isles, wielding a different wand. She spun around and ended up pointing the wand towards the ogre. Suddenly the end of the wand erupted with what appeared to be a miniature nova. A blast of light erupted towards the ogre. But Macavity could tell that the light was really only a side effect. The attack itself was pure, concentrated magical energy. That much magical power, uncontained, could warp reality in an area the size of Tokyo. When contained and focused on a single spot, say an ogre, there was little doubt of the outcome. The ogre screamed momentarily, then seemed to fold in on itself, shrinking and folding until it vanished from sight.

Jupiter landed beside Moon. "Nice attack. Be a little more careful when you aim it, though. If I hadn't heard your wind-up, I would have been right beside that thing when it hit."

Moon flicked her tongue at Jupiter. "But you did hear it, so you weren't there, so everything worked out."

Jupiter rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Let's go see how Mars is doing." Moon nodded, and they turned to head back to the other side of the store.

Venus landed beside Macavity. "Are there many more that strong among the enemies?"

"As strong as the ogre? Not really. An ogre is one of the strongest creatures I know of. As a race that is. I know of some powered individuals that have been stronger. But an ogre still isn't that dangerous given it's slowness and stupidity. There are creatures who serve the Dark Ones that are much less powerful than an ogre, but far more deadly."

Venus nodded. "We'll just have to be more careful, then." She leapt away in the same direction the others had gone. Macavity sighed. The fate of the world in the hands of a bunch of overconfident teenagers. Why him?

Macavity had never really subscribed to any of the human religions. In his opinion, if there indeed was a divine being out there, he or she had one definite trait: a totally twisted sense of humor. How else did someone explain some of the weird twists life tossed around? Oh, Macavity did his best to liven up the universe in his own way, but even after all this time he was still an amateur compared with some of the practical jokes God played with the universe. Teen-aged defenders, indeed.

Moments later Macavity materialized over by where the Senshi had gathered around their fallen comrade. Mars was awake, and trying to sit up, but Mercury was holding her down. Macavity nodded. Senshi were very hard to injure. Even a whack from an ogre should leave no lasting damage.

Macavity drifted over to float by Sailor Moon's shoulder. "Not bad work, Lady Moon. I did notice that you seemed unsurprised when your first attack failed. What happened?"

Sailor Moon smiled broadly. "I'm Sailor Moon. It's my job to save the day." Macavity gave her a hard stare, but Sailor Moon just gave back an innocent look.

Jupiter spoke up. "Actually the credit for that one goes to Tuxedo Mask. He's the one who figured out why the Crisis Kick didn't work against the kraken." Sailor Moon had put on a pouty frown as Jupiter popped her bubble of credit. "The Crisis Kick is a blast of healing magic. Or maybe it's a dispelling magic. Whichever, it was originally intended for restoring people possessed by evil energy back to human form. But the current enemies are not possessed. They are already in their natural form. So the Crisis Kick did nothing against them."

"I can tell the rest, Jupiter-chan." said Moon. "I wanted to hit the monster with the Crisis Kick once more, to be sure, but I didn't expect it to work. It didn't, so I slipped away to try to come up with a new attack. This is the first time I've actually had to work up a new attack. Before, they've just sorta happened. So I guess I cheated and came up with an old attack, instead of a new one. Though I don't remember the Moon Princess Halation being quite that bright."

Macavity shook his head. The girl didn't have a clue as to just how much power she was throwing about. Thank Serenity they were on the same side.

* * *

Argent took a deep drink of his wine. That had been one of the most horrifying sights he had ever seen. To be erased from existence like the ogre had been...

Argent shivered at the thought. That much power could devastate armies. He quickly downed the rest of the drink and moved to a desk to compose his report.

He lightly tapped his pencil, mentally organizing his thoughts for the report. That much power in the hand of an enemy... Hmm. Enemies... An idea was beginning to form. But it would take work.

For now he set the idea aside. He had a report to write.

* * *

A figure sat in a lotus position, staring deeply into the flames. Not Hino Rei, but Sailor Mars. Her current problem had nothing to do with Hino Rei, and everything to do with Sailor Mars.

She had been overconfident. Secure in the knowledge that she was faster than the goblins, she hadn't even considered that she could get caught by what amounted to bad luck.

She could feel the self-doubt creeping in. This was not good. If she began to doubt herself she would be of little use to the team.

A quick meditation technique pushed those thoughts away. Another time. She focused on the holy flames. Somewhere in them lay the answers she needed.

At least she hoped so...

* * *

Next episode... Laura joins the group for an day of fun at an amusement park. At least it's fun until the Dark Ones show up.

Author note. This is the last episode I published way back when I was originally writing this. Episode five was mostly written, but never published. But I'm having trouble finding a copy currently. I may have to re-write it from scratch. A couple of episodes further down the line were written by other Sailor Moon Expanded authors, but I'll hold off posting those here until I reach their proper position in the story. If someone wants to peek ahead, they can be found on the Sailor Moon Expanded web site. www dot tuxedomask dot com.


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